INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Senators on Tuesday moved to avert the planned weeklong strike against the impending phaseout of traditional jeepneys — a policy described by one lawmaker as “hastily planned, haphazardly implemented” without safety nets to affected operators and drivers.
To immediately address the concerns of operators and drivers, Senator Grace Poe asked the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to “find a realistic and viable solution to the concerns raised by operators and drivers on the modernization program.”
“We expect that Secretary Bautista himself will participate and personally meet with the various transport groups ASAP and hear their concerns,” Poe said in a statement, referring to DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista.
“Hopefully, the DOTr and Secretary Bautista can propose a solution that can avert the impending transport strike,” the head of the Senate committee on public services added.
She noted Bautista’s claim that there was no representative from the DOTR except those from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board during the past consultation on the jeepney modernization program.
“We owe it to our people to provide them with a safe, reliable and adequate transport system,” Poe said.
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, meanwhile, called for a review of the phase-out policy as well as the government’s “timetable, financial package and subsidy and assistance to affected drivers and operators.”
“This was hastily planned, haphazardly implemented and offered no safety nets whatsoever to the drivers and operators,” Escudero said in a separate statement.
“It will not benefit anyone, especially the drivers who earn daily…” he stressed.
If the drivers and owners could not really afford to buy new units for their operations, then Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel said the government should not push through with the phaseout of traditional jeepneys.
He said the government should have thought carefully every little detail of the financing plan before implementing the jeepney modernization program.
“Kung mukhang hindi talaga kakayanin ng mga owner-tsuper (driver) ang pag bayad sa mga sinasabing bagong units sa pamamagitan ng pamamasada, ay ‘wag ng ituloy ito kasi hindi naman na propose yang programa na yan para lamang bigyan ng dagdag na pabigat ang mga drivers ng jeepney at ang taong bayan,” he said in another statement.
(If the owner-driver can’t afford to purchase these new units, the planned phaseout of jeepneys shouldn’t push through. This program is not designed to burden our jeepney drivers and fellow citizens more.)
Pimentel noted that freedom of association and assembly allows everyone to strike or take collective action.